Match Discussion: Round 2 vs Panthers @ McDonald Jones Stadium

[mozza91]

Im getting a bit of a Kidley vibe from Watson

All effort, no brains.

I know Gidley is abit of a running joke on this forum but at his best he was a very good player. If Watson ended up being half the fullback Gids was then we’ve lucked out.

 

[slotmachine]

I'm nervous every time Watson is asked to catch or clean up a kick.

 

[Knight76]

Im getting a bit of a Kidley vibe from Watson

All effort, no brains.

I'm sure Brown will be having a talk to Watson about charging directly in to a defender. There was no need for that, he had time and could have swerved to avoid the heavy contact. That cost us possession at a critical time.

The try that they raked in from the dead ball line was just a fluke. 99 times out of 100 the ball rolls out there, but it took a wicked bounce on it's point straight up.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

While it’s easy to focus on the negatives after a loss I think there are still plenty of positives that can come out of the last couple of weeks.

Firstly we’ve gone up against two premiership heavyweight sides to open the season and we’ve matched up pretty well against both of them. The sharks won a comp not long ago and Penrith don’t look too far off winning one themselves. There is no shame in being 1/2 at this time of the year given the opposition we’ve been up against and we could easily be 2/2 if a couple of little things had gone our way.

The defence has improved massively since last year already. We’re not getting bulldozed up the middle anymore and we don’t concede linebreaks left, right and centre like we have over the last few years and we’ve been able to sustain the arm wrestle for long periods in both games. That try that Yeo scored was disappointing but then again we held them up over the line or short of the line on a number of occasions so hopefully that was just a blemish.

The part of our game that really does need to improve is what we do with the ball in hand. At the moment our forwards are hitting the ball up off a flat start, they need to stand deeper and generate momentum which will open up opportunities for our backs to get into space. We haven’t seen much in the way of sweeping backline moves because we’re not getting the ball out to these guys. Ramien should be the best centre at the club but hasn’t seen quality ball once yet and we’re just going one-out a bit too often at the moment. Surely a few guys can offload the ball and create some second phase play. It was frustrating to watch last night as we just ran hit-up after hit-up straight into the teeth of the Penrith defence and we didn’t try to get the ball wide or look for second phase play.

Overall I’m happy with the general attitude that we’ve shown over the first 2 rounds and we’ve looked like we’ll make it tough for teams to beat us this year but we definitely need our spine to click more than it has so far.

 

[slotmachine]

The try that they raked in from the dead ball line was just a fluke. 99 times out of 100 the ball rolls out there, but it took a wicked bounce on it's point straight up.

It would be a fluke once but sharks almost scored from very similar scenario on the touch line in round 1. Watson needs to be taking the safe option and backing his defence

 

[mozza91]

We need to work on our attack. We’re playing a risk free style of football and aren’t asking enough questions of the defence. Far too many one out runs and our edge forwards hitting a next line. It’s predictable to defend against. We’re just not spreading the ball around enough and killing our momentum at times by kicking penalty goals.

When we get on the front foot we need to look to give Ramien some early ball. Likewise Hunt who’s a lot bigger and stronger than I thought.

It comes down to Levi, Ponga but especially Pearce. He’s getting paid a million a year and needs to be better. His long kicking is excellent but his short kicking game and decision making were Cogger like at times last night.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it and we’ll go out and put 30 on Canberra. It is very early in the season after all.

 

[Willie Ray]

When we get on the front foot we need to look to give Ramien some early ball.

This.
He's such a handful in 1 on 1 situations...

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

I was impressed that SKD was roaming to the other side of the field and taking it on.

 

[Spot On]

We need to work on our attack. We’re playing a risk free style of football and aren’t asking enough questions of the defence. Far too many one out runs and our edge forwards hitting a next line. It’s predictable to defend against. We’re just not spreading the ball around enough and killing our momentum at times by kicking penalty goals.

When we get on the front foot we need to look to give Ramien some early ball. Likewise Hunt who’s a lot bigger and stronger than I thought.

It comes down to Levi, Ponga but especially Pearce. He’s getting paid a million a year and needs to be better. His long kicking is excellent but his short kicking game and decision making were Cogger like at times last night.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it and we’ll go out and put 30 on Canberra. It is very early in the season after all.

Pearce was never the halfback that would control games with short kicking prowess or hurt teams with ball playing.

He has many strengths, effort top of the list, but as a for being a creative half - he's not the man.

 

[mozza91]

Pearce was never the halfback that would control games with short kicking prowess or hurt teams with ball playing.

He has many strengths, effort top of the list, but as a for being a creative half - he's not the man.

Ponga can be the creative half but Pearce needs to produce a lot more than he did last night. Mullen used to get crucified when he played like that.

 

[Spot On]

Totally agree Mozza. Was well below par for the $$$.

 

[Yosh]

Personally I couldn't care less if Pearce doesn't get a single try assist or lone break assist this season. I want him topping the kick metres, repeat sets forced and have the lowest missed tackles. I think he might also score the most tries for a half this year.

Let's leave the creativity to Ponga.

 

[Knight76]

It would be a fluke once but sharks almost scored from very similar scenario on the touch line in round 1. Watson needs to be taking the safe option and backing his defence

And when he does that, and they score from the line dropout he will cop criticism for not allowing the ball to go dead.

Easy to be the hang man afterwards.

It was a fluke try against us that your not going to see again all year most likely.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Ponga can be the creative half but Pearce needs to produce a lot more than he did last night. Mullen used to get crucified when he played like that.

To be fair it’s probably the first poor game he’s had since coming to the club. But yes I would want to see him being more in control than he was last night for sure.

 

[mozza91]

To be fair it’s probably the first poor game he’s had since coming to the club. But yes I would want to see him being more in control than he was last night for sure.

True. But when I hear Fittler on the Footy Show spouting garbage about our forwards getting dominated it gives me the shits. If Pearce took control we’d of won. Harsh I know but it’s only because I rate him so highly as a club footballer.

 

[Spot On]

Personally I couldn't care less if Pearce doesn't get a single try assist or lone break assist this season. I want him topping the kick metres, repeat sets forced and have the lowest missed tackles. I think he might also score the most tries for a half this year.

Let's leave the creativity to Ponga.

Ponga will need some help re creating tries Yosh. He needs to carry some of the load. His short kicking game needs a lot of work ... and the fact it isn't as good as it needs to be this far into his career suggests it probably won't get much better either.

 

[Joel-22]

On a side note, do you think Ponga is sick of fielding questions about his move to 5/8?

 

[Sydney Knight]

I wouldnt say our forwards got dominated but Penriths forwards seemed to have a point to prove and played really well. Their overall line speed had us under pressure most of the game. To keep them to 3 tries (1 a fluke) shows how much our defence has improved. Just need to get the attack sorted

True. But when I hear Fittler on the Footy Show spouting garbage about our forwards getting dominated it gives me the shits. If Pearce took control we’d of won. Harsh I know but it’s only because I rate him so highly as a club footballer.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

To keep them to 3 tries (1 a fluke)

And 1 that I still swear was short of the line..

 

[Old dog]

That try definitely looked short the other from the bat back was created by a good determined chase and we could have should have cleaned it up or shielded the ball better